"I can boldly say that Vilnius is a safe city. The capital is attracting people who seek happiness and employment but there are also those who come to commit crimes," Zuokas told a press conference on Monday.
According to the mayor of Vilnius, the capital is a safe city for foreign guests as the number of crimes against foreign nationals last year was equal to the number recorded, for example, in Berlin in one day. 195 crimes against foreign citizens were recorded in Vilnius in 2012, with the majority of cases involving theft and 18 cases of robbery.
The majority of crimes were committed in the old town of Vilnius.
Attending the press conference, Kęstutis Lančinskas, chief of Vilnius County Police Headquarters, said high-value robberies were committed by criminal gangs. A criminal gang suspected of having committed 73 robberies from residential premises was busted last year.